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WRITING WORKSHOP
What Is a Synthesis Argument?
Most of us aren’t short on opinions when it comes to any number of personal and public issues. We have a perspective on community decisions, national debates, and global conflicts. But what sets an individual opinion apart from an argument that is likely to influence others is evidence that extends beyond the purely personal: that is, an argument informed by what others have thought, said, and written. This is what we call a “synthesis argument”; it is an argument based on sources.
If you were writing about a proposed change in school policy, you might interview your principal, parents, and other students. Or you might read about the experience of other schools, how they identified needed changes, what process they implemented to approve changes, and what some of the results of the changes were. As you wrote your own argument, you would consult sources. Some of these would report research conducted by experts, some would provide statistical data, and some would draw on relevant first-